Viktor Krotov - Personalities. Essays about interesting people

How to write an essay

“A good essay makes readers remember
who they are in essence, what they want, what they dream about”

K. Paustovsky

Feature article - one of the most interesting genres. It exists at the intersection of journalism and literature. Unfortunately, most schoolchildren and students write essays the way they would write essays or articles for the school newspaper.

An essay is one of the varieties of a small form of epic literature - a story, which differs from its other form, a short story, by the absence of a single, acute and quickly resolved conflict and a greater development of a descriptive image. Both differences depend on the features of the problematics of the essay. This is a semi-fiction semi-documentary genre that describes real events and real people.

The essay is both a documentary-scientific understanding of reality and an aesthetic exploration of the world. It is no coincidence that the essay is compared with works of art and even with painting, emphasizing: if the story is a picturesque picture, thensketch - a graphic drawing or sketch for a picture. It is, as it were, on the verge between a document and a generalized artistic image.

The essay introduces the reader to new, emerging forms of life and its daily course, awakens public opinion and forms an understanding of the right to put forward and defend advanced thoughts, combining an objective assessment of reality with subjective opinion, comparisons and parallels between them.

The main feature of the essay- writing from nature.

There are three main types of essay - portrait, problem and travel.

in the center of the portrait essay - the personality of a person, his life, his aspirations, joys and sorrows. In addition to interest in the hero (if this is a famous person), portrait essays are needed by readers in order to compare their system of moral values ​​with the views of another person. A portrait essay is a compressed story about someone's life. Well-known journalist Yuri Rost said about this: “I try to feel my interlocutor. I ask him what he regrets most in life, what he is proud of. My interest is sincere, and it helps me to create, first inside myself, and then on paper, the image of my hero.”

in troubled In the essay, some problem is in the center of attention; in the essay it can act as a conflict that its characters are trying to resolve. Parallels and deviations from the topic are appropriate in the problematic essay, the analysis of the problem is carried out more with the help of artistic means than statistical information.

Travel an essay is a description of some events, incidents, meetings with people that occur during the author's journey. This is a genre that allows the author to show imagination and literary skill to the greatest extent. The main problem is always the selection of information, because there are usually a lot of impressions as a result of trips, and the task is to select the most interesting and important. A travel essay can have several purposes - for example, to show how people live in other cities and countries.

Note:

If the essay contains elements of dialogue, then the speech of the characters should bear the imprint of their social environment. (So, for example, a homeless child says the word "aunt" and does not say "woman"). The author has the right to correct speech if the characters communicate with invectives.

Helpful Hints:

Brilliant publicist Mikhail Koltsov at one time he advised novice authors to pay attention to two things: composition and language.

The essay should touch on socially important topics. The author must rely on facts, draw logical conclusions, clearly indicate his author's position.

Before writing an essay, it is necessary to outline its structure: identify a social problem, analyze how it is solved, connect the author's reasoning with the characters of the most striking characters. You can start an essay with an artistic sketch, with a description of the scene, with sociology and statistics. The essay is interesting in that it almost does not limit the author's imagination and his curiosity.

Dry official phrases and speech stamps should be avoided. And read Anton Chekhov and Vladimir Gilyarovsky. Gilyarovsky is one of the brilliant essay writers and journalists of the 19th century.

When preparing an essay, artistic and visual means play a huge role. The strength of the essayist lies in the wide and skillful use of landscape, portrait, dialogue, description, speech characteristics, etc.

But even the most colorful and sophisticated artistic images, metaphors and comparisons will not help you if your intention and the structure of the text are not clear.

“Colourfulness” does not at all consist in adding fat to the “dish”, but in constructing an essay, in the ability to somehow endlessly arrange the material in a new way, so that its individual pieces and particles electrify each other, so that they add up to a common structure and this structure would not only rush forward, but would itself keep in place(M. Koltsov).

What is the purpose of the essay in the text?

Firstly , documentary. It is necessary to strive to present in detail what happened, without missing a single significant detail. But the fact itself is not important. The main thing is how typical it is for a journalistic idea, the problem of an essay.

Secondly , the subject of the essay is a typical case, classic in the conditions of the present. That is, a case that vividly characterizes and illustrates the stage of social development.

Third , this typical case is a manifestation of an explicit or hidden conflict (contradiction). Drama is an inherent feature of the essay.

Fourth , the image is of great importance in the essay. Emotional, dramatic and organically rich, it is a "generalization of life and an assessment of life phenomena."

Particular attention should be paid to language.

Essay work plan (example):

1. Problem

A portrait essay is not just a description of a person, it is a material written in connection with the awareness of some socially significant problem.

Formulate and describe in general terms the problem that you will develop in the essay.

2. Collective image

If you simply describe your desk mate, you won't get a portrait essay. This can be called a description or a sketch. Your task is to see the connection between the image of a particular person and the collective image of a modern representative of the younger generation. Show the general on the particular, and show the particular on the general.

Write down as many characteristics of the collective image of a representative of the younger generation as possible.

3. Controversy

The essence of the essay image is a contradiction. The essay will not come out if you fail to see and show the full drama of the collision and coexistence of opposing qualities.

In two or three sentences, “draw” a positive and negative portrait of the hero of our time.

4. Accents

As a rule, "newspaper portraits" are sketchy: 3-4 details plus a "leading" detail that characterizes the character. It is no coincidence that the word “essay” is believed to have come from the word “delineate”, that is, literally outline with strokes, features.

Write down 3-4 details that, in your opinion, are the most important for characterizing the hero. Try to find the dominant, "leading" detail.

5. Description of the character

Describe the face, clothes, movements, facial expressions of your hero, his manner of holding, communicating.

6. Character Traits

Write down as many character traits of your hero as possible: what is he like at home, in the classroom, at work, in an informal setting.

7. Situation

This or that situation characterizes a person in the best possible way. Recall a time when your character behaved in an unexpected way.

8. Bundles: hero - image - problem

Write a sentence or several sentences that will connect the image of your hero with a collective image and a designated problem.

9. Ratings

State your attitude towards the character. Your task is to unobtrusively and even imperceptibly convey your assessment to the reader in a few words included in the text of the essay. What words can these be?

You need to be able to give an essay like this
didactic character,
awakens the thought and makes the reader
to contemplate the material with you,
confront him internally.
Mikhail Koltsov

Essay Evaluation Criteria

1. Is there an attractive, unique heading that reflects the main idea of ​​the essay? (TITLE)

2. Is there a unique idea in the essay - the main paragraph containing the main idea (culminating phrase) of the work? (IDEA)

3. Is the image of the hero/object of research fully represented? (STUDY)

4. Is the sphere of the main interests of the hero shown, where he realizes the meaning of his life / the role and significance of the object in the socio-cultural situation of our time? (COMPETENCE)

5. Is there any sensational, unique information about the hero and his activities? Doesn't the essay sound like a dry summary? (NON-STANDARD)

6. Is there a clear composition, a logical sequence of paragraphs? (LOGICS)

8. Proficiency in Russian

I did not think long about whom I should write about in this essay. Paying attention to the words "interesting person", I immediately realized that I would write about my teacher, Sergei Petrovich, who taught at an art school.

He was a stately man of about forty-five, with thick, short-cropped hair, a cheerful face, and strong arms and large palms. When he smiled, his eyes became kind and even began to shine. He smiled, and everything around him became joyful and pleasant. But sometimes Sergei Petrovich came gloomy and immersed in his problems, closed himself in the utility room, did not go out and did not answer questions. Even the weather these days frowned and adjusted to his stern image.

Sergei Petrovich did not impose drawing techniques on us, but paid great attention to how to draw correctly in tone. To the words: "Teach me to draw a face (or something else)", he briefly answered: "Draw as you can." Perhaps that is why our group had great success in competitions than others. He taught to create, not to imitate.

Sometimes Sergei Petrovich liked to joke with us. It happened that one of the students forgot a pencil, clip, black marker and so on at home. They turned to the teacher, who, it seems, never ran out of “stocks” of erasers and paints. But do not think that Sergei Nikolaevich gave it away just like that. "Forgetful" had to either sing a song for the entire art school, or recite a poem, or dance a dance. And all this had to be done diligently, like a real artist.

He liked to joke, but we did not remain in debt. Once they wrote him a letter, that is, Mishka wrote it (he had the most adult handwriting of the entire group), supposedly from a secret admirer. They put the letter under the door crack along with the treat. On this day Sergei Petrovich was especially kind to us and even extended the break. We thought that he believed in our fiction, and laughed at them for a long time. But then, out of breath, Katya showed us her find, found on the table in the study room. With unbearable curiosity and unrestrained giggling, we began to open the reply letter.

Here it was written carefully and carefully. In a letter, Sergei Petrovich said that he was pleased to hear gentle words and care for him, thanked for the treat, and also mentioned us, what obedient and talented children we are. Since there were eight more candies attached to the letter, and there were just eight of us in the group at that time, everything became extremely clear.

After that, we could not look into his eyes for a long time (it was a shame), but it was during this time that Sergei Petrovich became almost like a father to us.

Unfortunately, he did not stay long in the position of our beloved "second father". He was invited to work in another city, but I still remember this talented person and those happy times with special tenderness.

Perevedentseva Victoria,

8th grade student.

How to write a biographical essay
Gathering information Reflection on information Write a biographical essay Revise a biographical essay A biography tells about a person's character, life and achievements. The biographical sketch is shorter and much more specific. The sketch should provide readers with basic information about the person, and give them a sense of the person's character. A curriculum vitae can be written to give people more information about a historical figure, or to provide some information about themselves, a career tool for employment. Follow these simple steps and you'll be on your way to writing a stellar biographical essay of your own.

Read other biographies before starting your own. This will give you a better understanding of the craft.
If you are writing a bio about yourself, you should try not to go over the word limit by more than a few words. Otherwise, your potential employers will think they don't know how to follow directions or be concise.

A few words about myself. Outwardly, I am not too different from the other six and a half billion human beings inhabiting our planet and one hundred and forty-two million fellow citizens living in our country.

I dare to hope that internally too. In any case, I have traveled about the same path in the social sense that almost everyone else is doing.

He graduated from an eight-year school in his native village, after which he mastered the program of the tenth and eleventh grades at a special boarding school for blind and visually impaired children in the city of Polysaevo. The skills of independent living away from home brought benefits - the boarding school helped to adapt and undergo socialization, and in addition, it allowed me to acquire primary skills for living in society.

Next - the law faculty of the Novokuznetsk branch-institute of the Kemerovo State University, which was graduated with a blue diploma. However, he did not find a job in his specialty and to his liking. But, nevertheless, it was this - humanitarian - specialty that played the final role in shaping the personality and shaping the sphere of interests, although I was fond of poetry and literature before. Poetry - from the age of 12, and literature - as long as I can remember.

Even as a child, he was interested in nature, loved animals. However, as they grew older, the accents of interests and inclinations shifted towards socio-political and socio-philosophical problems and issues. Not the last role in this, I dare to hope, was played by the date of my birth. More precisely, her star sign. The fact is that Capricorn is a sign of the earth, which greatly affects the character of those who were born under this sign. These people pay great attention to "earthly" issues - that is, the material world.

That is why most of my poems are devoted to some topical topics, there is little sublime in them and, in fact, poetry as such, in the classical sense of the word. This is, rather, not even poetry, but rhymed journalism, which, according to people like B. Burmistrov, A. Ruleva and S. Kadyrov, are different things and, as a rule, not very compatible.

However, I continue to occasionally rhyme, although I feel a much greater craving for prose and, as noted above, for journalism. Although this did not prevent me from taking part in the first regional festival of amateur poets “I write with my heart”, which took place on May 26, 2010 in the city of Kemerovo and was held under the auspices of the All-Russian Society of the Blind, in which at that time I was still a member.

At the same time, it has never been published anywhere - it did not happen. Although, for the mass of all the graphomaniac garbage I have composed, you can find a couple of poems that I personally definitely like.

First of all, this is haiku. Because when writing them, a lot of time and effort is spent, and the result is worth it. Because haiku is the harmony of form and content, conciseness of presentation and at the same time fullness of expression of thought. Because it's beautiful and restrained.

In addition to hockey, such poems include a modern interpretation and interpretation of the classics and classics - Nekrasov's poem "Who Lives Well in Rus'" and stories composed by Tolstoy for peasant children. Such an interest is quite understandable - I began to be interested in the classics from the school bench.

In addition, I can also include “Black”, “What? Where? When?" and "Kremlin Tree", as well as some others.

In addition to compositions “for the soul”, that is, for myself, I occasionally compose “on order”. So, sometimes I had to compose out of necessity - for example, in the process of participating in the Siberian Robinsonade tourist action, where I had to complete all sorts of creative tasks. Well, as congratulations to someone, which also happens extremely rarely.

Personalities

Essays about interesting people

Viktor Krotov

© Viktor Krotov, 2017

ISBN 978-5-4483-4009-3

Created with the intelligent publishing system Ridero

On the cover: father Alexander Men, photo by Maria Romanushko.

"Personality does not disappear."

Alexander Men:

power and glory

1. If you write about him ...

If I were to write about this man, I would have to choose my words very carefully. You can say a lot of unnecessary, unimportant, purely your own. And I would like to talk about it.

Each person appears to us in many forms. But one of them becomes like a tuning fork of memory. If you were to write about Father Alexander, what image of him would become central? The main one among those preserved by memory - or soul ... Probably this one ... If only to decide to return there ...

The train doors open. The next stop is Sergiev Posad. There is a Lavra, pilgrims, ancient prayer temples. And here - just summer or winter, spring or autumn.

Steep stairs from the platform up. Asphalt narrow path, from which the woods slightly retreated to the right and left. And breathe easily in the forest.

No no! nothing has been here yet, there is no need to talk about it yet ...

Easy to breathe, easy to walk. Even when at the end you have to turn off the asphalt path, walk twenty meters along the roots and along the boards that cover the puddles, you do not lose heart.

Here is the gate with the bell button, which will be heard in the house. A ceremony to hold a dog honestly trying to feign indignation.

Canopy, where shelving has already begun - with magazines. Out "Questions of Philosophy", out "Journal of the Moscow Patriarchy" ...

On a narrow platform, there are also shelves, also books, and a meter-long figurine of a crusader with the inscription "CREDO". To the left of the platform is a door, heavily padded to shut out the noise.

It opens, this cherished door, and closes behind you. It's even easier to breathe here. Attic, with a sloping ceiling, repeating the slope of the roof. Red corner, lamp. The cassock hanging by the door is always ready ... A large window. The office is lined with bookshelves. Wall of books on the table. And the high cupboard, which separates the nook from the door with a narrow sofa, is full of books on both sides. From the front - philosophical, religious, encyclopedic. From the inside, from the side of the sofa hidden behind the closet, - fantasy and adventure.

To the right is a coffee table and a pair of comfortable armchairs. This is for guests. And to the left, at the desk, on a working swivel chair, next to a typewriter, with stacks of books and folders - he, father Alexander, Alexander Vladimirovich. He looks for something in the drawer and waves to the chair: “Sit down, Victor, relax ... Look at the table over there, they sent me recently ...” I take a magazine or a book, it’s terribly interesting, but he still remains the most interesting of all, Father Alexander ...

Many parishioners consider him a full-blooded Greek. He is swarthy, his hair is wavy, black, barely beginning to turn gray. The eyes are brown, lively, with a smiling sparkle. He does not peer, does not hypnotize, he does not pretend to be anyone, he does not try to give himself significance. On the contrary, he tries to divert the attention of the interlocutor from himself to more important, more necessary things. He talks about this and that, he has something to tell about life, and about books, and about people ...

He often falls silent, but not in anticipation of response phrases. The pause does not force you to speak, it seems to encourage you: nothing, nothing, it is not necessary to keep the conversation going, I will now tell you one more curious thing ... But if you started talking, all the attention of Father Alexander belongs to you. Fatherly attention - if you came to him as a father. Friendly attention - to everyone.

He is not very tall and a little overweight. In an everyday environment, his movements are fraught with a slight charming clumsiness. He seems to chuckle softly at this masquerade of everyday worries. And remains free and independent from this masquerade, no matter how necessary it would be to take part in it ...

This was written in December 1990. I thought I would write more and more. But could not.

2. Strength and glory of Father Alexander

Early in the morning of September 9, 1990, one of the most remarkable people of our country and our century, priest Alexander Men, was killed with an ax on the head.

Historians who will analyze the moral history of our century will mark the date of September 9, 1990 as a tragic milestone in the life of the agonizing atheistic order. “Now anything can happen,” we said to each other, unable to recover from the terrible news.

And indeed, anything has begun. The state pretended to be unable to find the killers. Nine months later, a measly five thousandth prize was announced. Did not help. Even the mighty Committee of State Security suddenly turned out to be powerless before the degenerate with a hatchet. The country's two top political leaders have pledged to keep the matter under their control. Did not help. Public opinion grumbled, as it should, and remained half-forgotten, never realizing the scale of the tragedy.

Soon another priest was killed, then another. Needless to say, the killers were not found. And the style of killing was deliberately the same: with a heavy object on the head. On the head, on the head...

Is it necessary to talk about what the political events turned out to be - round after round - which painted subsequent years in black and red tones ...

Historians will comprehend this event many times. We, the contemporaries of this man, it is important to preserve the memory of him. And maybe even before historians, we need to understand what happened on the ninth of September to all of us.

I would like to tell you about one of the pages of this wonderful life. Discuss the translation of Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory. And not so much about translation, but about the amazing linkage of creativity and fate, which allows you to feel some lines of force that go beyond the scheme of simple coincidences.

Father Alexander wrote many profound books. They have already entered the golden fund of our culture, although not everyone is inclined to admit this. Many of these books are truly encyclopedic in nature and require colossal work. How did he manage to combine it with a rich priestly and preaching activity, with pedagogical activity, with a large correspondence, with human unhurried communication? .. - all this is on the verge of a miracle. And suddenly Father Alexander takes up the translation of the novel!

He himself was as if surprised by this, spoke about his translation with a slight smiling embarrassment. I happened to meet him quite often during that period and become happy listener of the whole novel: referring to the illegible handwriting, Father Alexander each time read the next chapter aloud.

Then we talked with him about everything that the content of this chapter led us to - and the novel seemed to expand, absorbing the life of today's world.

Now I am listening to my memory again (I never read this novel with my eyes, although it was later published in someone else's translation) - and its scenes are almost inseparable from the one who read them to me.

I will try this way, from memory, maybe not very accurately, to convey some impressions about this novel, combined with the memory of an extraordinary translator who saw in this book something important for himself and for all of us.

Father Alexander was a great book reader. He read in many languages. complex there was no literature for him. At the same time, he also liked that fascinating genre, which is usually denoted by the words “adventure and fantasy” (how can one not remember the back of the cabinet by the sofa). A genre that weaves a parable and a symbol into everyday circumstances. A genre that uses the movement of the plot instead of edification. The genre is ironic and unpredictable.

It is not surprising that Father Alexander loved the books of Graham Greene - the highest professional in the adventure genre and at the same time a master who knows how to fill his books with what it is worth writing them for: understanding life. A Christian writer (a Catholic, but this did not frighten Father Alexander, who puts Christianity above confessional barriers). A writer who is especially attentive to the world of social hopes and illusions.

Power and Glory is a novel about a priest. About the priest in the country of the victorious revolution. The revolution is present here, first of all, as a kind of spontaneous faceless phenomenon that turns over the usual human life. Religion is prohibited. Priests are either married, thereby forcing them to break their vow of celibacy and leave their rank, or they are executed. There is another way out for the priest - to run away from the country.